MotoGP | Inside Line from Jerez

We venture behind the scenes in Jerez at the MotoGP of Spain and bring you the gossip from the paddock...

It looked strange, but the bikes in all classes fitted rear lights for the first time at Jerez. A new regulation says they will be used in wet conditions where visibility is impaired. They were surprisingly visible in the Spanish drizzle but in monsoon conditions, like at Silverstone last year, they are a potential life saver.

If there were a world championship for hospitality units the Spanish Avintia team would already be the winners. They debuted their two-story edifice at the Spanish GP and if you thought their white and green livery on the outside was eye-catching you should see the neon-pink bar on the top floor! Too make sure guests missed nothing, Avintia also had three-tier grandstands built in the back of their pit garages – that’s cusomer care for you.

You would think it would be difficult to scare a teenage Moto3 racer wouldn’t you? So why was Red Bull KTM’s Danny Kent so worried on Thursday? Because the BBC’s Azi Farni decided it would be a good idea to take him and the other British Moto3 rider Danny Webb to a local stables to do a little filming. Honestly – they were petrified! What Azi didn’t tell the Dannys was that she was scared too, but hid her fear by assuming her usual role of headmistress keeping the unruly kids in line.

German TV commentator Eddie Mielke always and a touch of colour to the paddock. Even his paddock scooter is kitted out in character with a cup-holder on each handlebar. One usually contains a can, but in the other? A vase of tulips. Nice.

What was the top gossip topic at Jerez? Was it Fenati’s domination of the Moto3 race? No. Was it the travails at Ducati? No. It was the mouse that had evicted Cal Crutchlow from his motorhome. Driven away by the constant gnawing noises, Cal left nine traps for it on Saturday. The rodent set them all off and added insult to injury by eating the food from three of them. After his best ever MotoGP race, Crutchlow headed back to his motorhome for Sunday night for the final showdown. Watch this space!

Oh no, there are two of them! As if one Marquez isn’t enough a second brother made his GP debut at Jerez. Alex, the younger sibling of ex-125 champ and current Moto2 championship leader Marc. Young Alex, just 16 years old, had an eventful race as a Moto3 wild card but finished in the points. His elder brother was leading the Moto2 race when the red flag went out but ended up second because the result was taken from the last complete lap.

The action continued to come thick and fast at Estoril, where the MotoGP World Championship third round followed immediately after its second, and there were victories from pole position for Red Bull...